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SANTAQUIN — Inside a gated fence at Alexander's Towing in Santaquin Tuesday, a Honda, Toyota, and a Ford waited to be fixed — as did a $380,000 Lamborghini Murcielago.
"I couldn't believe I won it," said David Dopp, a Santaquin resident who won the car in a Maverik "Joe Schmo to Lambo" contest recently.
This past Saturday, the car was given to him by the nonprofit organization teamgive during a ceremony at a Santaquin Maverick gas station.
"Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday," Dopp said, forcing a half smile.
He was one of thousands to enter the contest. During halftime of the BYU football game on Nov. 12, he and the other 9 finalists appeared on the field at halftime. That's when it was announced he had won the car.
After Dopp received the keys to the car, he started giving lots of rides to family and friends. He also took a lot of pictures.
"It was kind of weird seeing a more expensive car than a house sitting in the same spot," Dopp said. "Usually, you see these sitting outside of mansions, not outside a little house here in Santaquin."
The crash happened only six hours later. "We were coming up a hill, going around a corner; and as soon as we came up the hill, we either hit some black ice or loose gravel or something, and all of a sudden we just started spinning," Dopp recalled. "We ended up in a field, and I back-ended a couple of fence posts."
The car also has a little front-end damage, a puncture in the wheel, and scratches all along the passenger side.
Dopp asked his buddy to call his wife for him. "My heart pretty much fell out," said Annette Dopp. "They said they were OK, then (came), you know, that feeling when your heart drops and you're like, 'Oh, my gosh. What do we do now?'"
The car couldn't be driven, so Dopp called a towing company to pick it up.
The good news in all of this is that Dopp had insurance on the car. It was one of the contest requirements before he could take the keys.
"That's what insurance is for," he said.
The car will be taken to a Las Vegas body shop Wednesday morning to be fixed.
Dopp, who also won $5,000 worth of driving lessons at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele County, says he'll be more careful next time.
"It's going to be all nice and pretty here in a couple of months, I'm sure," Dopp said.
Email: acabrero@ksl.com
